Forged in Fire
by AlphaEph19
Summary: The shinobi way of life is not kind to families. Many drift apart, or are torn apart. Sometimes the blood that binds relatives together becomes a curse. But not all families are linked by blood. Some rise up out of suffering, formed by individuals who have had enough of being broken down - they want to build anew. These are the strongest families... the ones forged in fire. AU
1. The Child

**A/N: **My apologies for starting a new story when I have so many others in need of an update. But this idea wouldn't let me go, so there was nothing to do but write it. If you like the premise, please review and let me know!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto

**Chapter 1: The Mission**

Kakashi woke with a gasp. He was clammy with sweat. A familiar face danced at the edge of his memory, fading quickly now that he was awake, but not quickly enough.

_Obito…_ The face of Kakashi's deceased teammate smiled at him, undeterred by the blood dripping from an empty eye socket. Kakashi's gorge rose, and he felt like throwing up. Or crying.

Instead he kicked off his sheets and stood up, grabbing a water bottle he kept within reach for nights like these. He wondered why Obito had appeared in his nightmare, when it was Rin's bloody corpse that most often haunted his dreams.

_Oh, yeah… the massacre._ Small wonder Kakashi had relived Obito's death that night, when almost all of Obito's relatives had been slaughtered the night before. Kakashi was no longer an ANBU Captain, so he wasn't part of the search party attempting to track down Uchiha Itachi and bring the murderer to justice.

_I'm glad to have no part of it_, Kakashi reflected as he pulled on his uniform. Itachi was not the kind of shinobi who would leave a trail. He would disappear like a ghost, no matter how talented the trackers sent to find him.

No, Itachi was gone, and it was up to the shinobi who remained to make sure Konoha didn't collapse after the loss of its most prominent clan, and the majority of its police force.

_I almost envy the dead_, thought Kakashi, who always felt a bid morbid in the mornings. _They go on alone, saddling the living with their problems._

He didn't know whom he meant specifically: Obito, Rin… maybe even his father or Minato-sensei. All of them, most likely. In any case, it didn't matter. Another day was approaching, and Kakashi had to meet it. The prospect of more sleep held no appeal – sleep would only bring fresh nightmares.

Kakashi vaulted out his open window, taking to the rooftops of Konoha. His target was the Hokage's Tower, standing proudly in the center of the village. It was still dark, and would be for many hours yet, but that didn't matter. On today of all days, the Hokage would still be hard at work.

_Save me from the troubles of a Kage… _Kakashi mused, pushing chakra through his legs as he flew from roof to roof. The old man was probably locked in a round of emergency meetings with clan heads and village advisors, figuring out what to do now that the Uchiha had been slaughtered.

_At least when I wake up, MY nightmares end!_

Kakashi gained access to the Tower with little trouble – the ANBU stationed outside were actually his former teammates, and they weren't about to bar their captain's way, even if he didn't technically hold that title anymore. Two chuunin stood outside the door to the Hokage's study, many floors above the ground. Kakashi didn't know them – they must be newly promoted. It was interesting that ANBU weren't acting as the Hokage's immediate guards, considering the recent threat to village security…

"He's meeting with Danzou," said the chuunin on the left, giving Kakashi a respectful nod. There were few shinobi who didn't know the famed Copy-nin, if not by sight, then certainly by reputation.

"Then I'll wait," Kakashi replied, glad his mask hid his grimace when he heard the name of the Hokage's guest.

_Danzou… should have guessed that old buzzard would be around. Nothing draws his attention faster than fresh corpses…_

As it turned out, Kakashi didn't have to wait very long. He had just started flipping through Jiraiya's latest volume when the door swung open. Danzou paused when he saw Kakashi, his un-bandaged eye narrowing.

"Kakashi."

"Danzou."

That was all that really needed to be said. Kakashi's time as a Root operative was perhaps his third-worst regret, after killing Rin and losing Obito to the landslide. Danzou had been overjoyed to secure Kakashi's services following the war with Iwa, but that whole episode with Kinoe-turned-Tenzou had pushed Kakashi back to the proper path.

He now served Sarutobi more faithfully than he'd ever served Danzou, but he still respected the old war hawk's ruthlessness. Danzou was a powerful opponent, and utterly devoted to Konoha – but only the Konoha _he_ wanted. A good man to have at your side… but not necessarily at your back.

Kakashi had to wonder, though, whether Danzou knew anything more about the Uchiha Massacre than most of the jounin did. Danzou would have been keeping a close eye on the Military Police, especially when Fugaku and his cronies began taking a hard line on Uchiha superiority. In fact, the recent slaughter solved many of Danzou's problems rather neatly.

_There's no such thing as coincidence…_

As a shinobi trained to look 'underneath the underneath,' Kakashi suspected that there was much he didn't know about the Uchiha Massacre. As a shinobi who'd recently gotten out of ANBU, however, he knew as much as he ever wanted to. Let the Hokage and his councilors keep their dark secrets; Kakashi was satisfied just following orders. He had enough ghosts riding on his shoulders.

The Third Hokage was waiting for Kakashi, and raised his head when the Copy-nin entered the study.

"Ah… I wondered when you would be arriving. Most jounin appeared last night, as soon as they heard the warning bells."

Kakashi shrugged. "I went to the compound to look for myself. I didn't receive a summons, so I thought you had all the help you needed." There was also the fact that he didn't want to be anywhere near that madhouse that the Tower would have been last night.

Sarutobi smiled wearily. "I did indeed… and perhaps more than I wanted. You saw Danzou, I presume."

"Yes."

"As you might expect, he's requested full authority in dismantling what's left of the Military Police. The Uchiha were always the backbone of that group, and now that they're gone…"

Kakashi's mouth twisted. "As long as he doesn't crow too loudly. Danzou may be overjoyed that the Uchiha aren't around to make trouble, but there are many shinobi on the police force who were close to the Uchiha. Danzou will cause a lot of anti-Council sentiment if he's not careful."

Sarutobi sighed. "I believe I can trust him to be diplomatic."

_Even if you can't trust him for anything else, _Kakashi added silently.

"Enough of Danzou," the Hokage declared, eyes narrowing with new resolve. "As you haven't been briefed, you may not have heard yet. There was one survivor."

_That_ certainly captured Kakashi's attention. He hadn't thought Itachi was the kind to leave loose ends. "Who?"

"Uchiha Sasuke. Itachi's little brother."

"Damn. That… complicates things."

"You were always one for understatement. My heart rejoices that someone escaped this carnage, but I fear that life for young Sasuke will be the purest torture for many years yet. No one, no matter what age, can suffer such trauma without lasting scars."

Kakashi's fists tightened at his sides, and he spoke in a low voice that promised danger. "You know Danzou will try to collect him. The last Uchiha, at his most emotionally vulnerable… he won't be able to stop himself. That's how he operates. It's how he got me," Kakashi recalled, unable to hide his bitterness and self-loathing.

"I don't think we have to worry about Danzou recruiting young Sasuke," Sarutobi said, an unfathomable expression crossing his face.

"Why not?"

"Call it a hunch. There are too many risks involved, especially now that Sasuke is so visible. Not that I intend to be lax, of course… it wouldn't be the first time Danzou has surprised me with what he's capable of." Sarutobi's nod to Kakashi was half reminder, half apology.

Kakashi bowed his head. "I was the only one responsible for my folly, Hokage-sama… but about Sasuke. How do you intend to keep him safe? The sharingan is now an endangered ability. Even assuming Danzou doesn't try to recruit him for Root, he'll be a walking target. Kidnappers could name their price for a pair of Uchiha eyes, and any other shinobi village would pay it twice over. Sasuke is a real player now, in a game he's far too young to understand."

Sarutobi chuckled, a dry sound that had little to do with humor. "Careful, Kakashi… if you continue to speak my own thoughts back to me, I won't have any choice but to make you my successor."

Kakashi visibly shuddered. As far as nightmares went, that one was near the top of his list.

"Jiraiya is watching him for the moment," Sarutobi went on. "I summoned him immediately as soon as word of the massacre reached me. Thankfully, he was already in Fire Country, so he got here yesterday morning."

Kakashi was glad to hear it. The Toad Sannin was devoted to the Third Hokage, and had no connections to Danzou or his war-mongering faction. He was also arguably the strongest shinobi currently living in the village – although Kakashi had his suspicions about Danzou's true strength – so there was no one better suited to protect Sasuke.

"This is only a temporary measure, of course," Sarutobi said, taking a moment to light his pipe. "Jiraiya is by far our most effective gatherer of intelligence, and the village can't afford to lose him indefinitely. To that end, I've been thinking about which shinobi to assign to look after Sasuke."

Kakashi suddenly felt a sensation he recognized as that of being just about to walk into an ambush. It felt like a dozen kunai were streaking through the air straight for his heart. "Hokage-sama," he began desperately, but the Hokage rode right over his instinctive protest.

"It has to be you, Kakashi. You're clearly the right person for the job."

"And why is that?" Kakashi demanded, suddenly angry. "Because I have Obito's sharingan?"

Sarutobi held his gaze with unwavering calm. "Not only that. You have more experience in ANBU than any shinobi currently serving. Your skills make you the perfect bodyguard, and aside from Jiraiya there are few shinobi even close to your level. If anyone can ensure Sasuke's safety it's you, Kakashi. Finally, you're one of the few shinobi whom I _know_ I can trust. Konoha is a rotting cesspool full of secrets, and contrary to popular belief, they're not all mine. What if I accidentally assign an undercover Root agent to protect Sasuke, and Danzou orders that agent to eliminate the last Uchiha? No… it has to be you."

"Damn it, I am _not_ the one to deal with a traumatized child!" Kakashi yelled, driven to his breaking point. He still broke down into uncontrollable sobs at the War Memorial, and woke in the middle of the night from nightmares more often than not. What did the Hokage expect him to say to this child?

It took a lot to drive the Third Hokage to open annoyance, but it seemed Kakashi had managed it. "You're not supposed to be his psychotherapist!" Sarutobi snapped. "Just keep him alive!"

The anger suddenly leaked out of him, leaving the Hokage looking almost deflated. "Kakashi… please. I need you to do this."

Just like that Kakashi's rage vanished, replaced by shame. This was the man who came out of retirement to save a village from self-destructing after the Kyuubi's attack. This was the man who'd given him a second chance after he'd joined Root. The debt Kakashi owed to this man personally, and the duty he owed him as his Hokage… both told him what he needed to do.

Kakashi's shoulders slumped. "Fine… I'll play babysitter. But only because you said please."

"_Thank_ you, Kakashi. You don't know what this means to me, and to the village."

"Yeah, yeah." Kakashi's mind was already awhirl with plans, now that he knew there was no dodging this mission.

_I might be a chronic insomniac and closet pervert, but I'm still a jounin of Konoha, and the safety of Obito's last living relative in Konoha is in my hands. I'll be damned before I let anything happen to him!_

"If this is going to be a long-term mission," Kakashi mused, "then I'm going to need a partner. I have to sleep sometime, and even with my ninken I can't lock down a compound or an apartment by myself. No more than two though… we don't want too many random variables."

Kakashi considered his options, forgetting about the Hokage completely as he weighed the advantages and disadvantages of specific shinobi. He would have enjoyed working with Asuma, but the Hokage's son was still off protecting the daimyo as one of the Twelve Guardian Shinobi.

There was Guy, but… Kakashi shuddered. He had a healthy respect for his 'Eternal Rival's' abilities, but he didn't relish the prospect of spending twenty-four hours a day in the spandex-clad jounin's company. Kurenai was a possible choice, but genjutsu was more of a precision tool. Sasuke needed protectors capable of neutralizing enemies before they came close.

Then he thought of Tenzou. The Mokuton user was now in ANBU, having finally won free of Danzou's influence. Kakashi trusted Tenzou as much as he did his yearmates from the Academy, and the Special Jounin's abilities were certainly suited to bodyguard work.

The Hokage coughed gently. "Ah, Kakashi? I've already chosen your partner."

He looked up, startled. "Eh? What's that?"

"I said, I've already decided your partner for the mission. The ANBU guarding the Tower had orders to fetch her as soon as you showed, so she should be here any moment now. She has considerable experience in long-term missions, although more on the infiltration side than protection. I trust her as much as I do you. Most importantly, she may be able to help Sasuke with what he's going through. Tragic as it is, she knows what it is to be betrayed by someone she once loved."

As far as Kakashi was aware, there was only one kunoichi who fit that description.

"Oh, sh-"

"Hey there, Cyclops! Long time no see!" Mitarashi Anko burst through the door to the Hokage's study, flashing Kakashi her signature bloodthirsty grin. She had added a tan trenchcoat to her repertoire since the last time he'd seen her, which did a little to preserve her modesty – a _very_ little, considering the skin-tight mesh outfit she wore underneath.

Kakashi turned to the Hokage helplessly, his dismay showing even through his mask. "Why _her_, of all people?!"

"I'm the most screwed-up shinobi on the roster," Anko answered instead, laughing as if she'd made the funniest joke in the world. "Who better to look after a screwed-up kid?"

The Hokage winced. "I disagree with your phrasing, Anko, but the sentiment is somewhat accurate. You won't belittle his loss, nor will you repulse him with useless pity. You're skilled enough to guard him, yet you can also empathize with him."

"I thought the point was to protect the kid, not traumatize him further," Kakashi said, eyeing Anko skeptically. Maybe that was a little harsh, but he wasn't about to temper his words. Anko had heard much worse in her time, and from people who actually doubted her loyalty to Konoha. It wasn't her loyalty that had Kakashi worried, though.

"Hey!" she protested, shaking a finger at him in mock outrage. "I'm a people person!"

"Says the kunoichi I once saw lick an enemy's blood off the edge of her kunai!"

Anko laughed outright at that. "Still remember that mission, huh? I'm touched! And like I said… I _love_ people! All kinds…" she licked her lips with evident satisfaction.

Sarutobi coughed again, trying to get them back on track. "Kakashi, you're in charge of this mission. It's an indefinite A-rank, and the primary objective is to keep Sasuke alive. The secondary objective is to evaluate his mental state, and to make sure that what he's going through doesn't permanently harm his development as a shinobi. I expect the two of you to work well together, and to keep me informed of any significant developments. Understood?"

Kakashi stopped glaring at Anko long enough to come to attention. "Yes, Hokage-sama. Let me just state, for the record, that I seriously doubt the wisdom of these orders."

"Doubt them all you want, as long as you obey."

Anko laughed and nudged him with deceptive strength. "What, don't tell me you want to look after the little brat on your own? I shudder to think what bad habits he'd pick up from a role model like you… you'd probably turn him into a pervert before he turned ten! No, what little Sasuke needs is a woman's tender heart and nurturing hand."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, wondering how Anko managed to say that with a straight face. He seriously doubted whether she'd ever 'nurtured' anything in her life, and as for her 'tender heart'… yeah, he'd believe that when he saw it.

"You two are dismissed," the Hokage declared. "Jiraiya is with Sasuke in a secure medical ward in the basement. Anko can take you there, Kakashi."

Anko grabbed Kakashi's arm like an infatuated schoolgirl. "Come on, honey," she crooned in an exaggerated falsetto. "Let's go see our little boy."

Kakashi knew he was going to hate this mission.


	2. The Mission

**A/N: **Hey all! Here's another chapter, since the ideas are flowing fast. I'm sticking to shorter chapters so far, but they'll probably get longer as the story progresses. And in case I didn't make it clear last time, the divergence point for this story was the Hokage's decision to assign two bodyguards to watch over Sasuke. All subsequent changes to canon stem ultimately from that one choice.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto

**Chapter 2: The Child**

Jiraiya was waiting for Kakashi and Anko outside of a top-secret medical ward in the Hokage Tower, located several floors below the ground. It was a room with glass walls, so that nothing going on inside could happen without the guards noticing. At the moment, Jiraiya was the only guard.

Inside the room, Uchiha Sasuke sat upright on a hospital bed. The boy held himself like a stiff post and stared fixedly at nothing. A pair of balding men in cheap suits stood a few feet away from him, one of them clutching a clipboard.

"Hey, you two," Jiraiya said when he spotted Kakashi and Anko. He gave them a half-hearted wave. "You made it."

"You _must_ be upset, you old coot," Anko observed. "No leer? No creepy hug that's just an excuse to cop a feel?"

Jiraiya summoned a weary laugh. "Would you like me to cop a feel?"

"I think I'd prefer an honest grope to this sad-sack shit. Cheer up, for Kami's sake! Who are the creeps in the suits?"

"Psychologists," Jiraiya explained. "The Hokage thought it might be better to have Sasuke examined by civilians with backgrounds in childhood trauma. "

"Shrinks?!" Anko spat, as if it were a dirty word. "_Civilian_ shrinks?"

"What's wrong with psychologists?" Kakashi asked mildly. To be honest, he agreed with Anko whole-heartedly, but _someone_ had to be professional here.

"I'll tell you what's wrong with 'em," Anko said grimly. "They're a bunch of emotional vampires who get off on hearing people's worst memories. They don't even do any good! I swear, the Hokage made me see every single shrink in Konoha after Orochimaru abandoned me, and not a single one of them helped a fraction as much as a bottle of liquor and a good lay."

Caught off-guard, Kakashi had a coughing fit. Jiraiya pounded him unhelpfully on the back. "Ah… Anko, not that I have anything against your coping mechanisms, but, well… Sasuke's _seven!_"

Anko shrugged. "I'm not gonna buy him a whore or anything like that. Geez, Jiraiya, you make me sound so irresponsible! Let's just give him a few shots of whiskey, ok? Nothing like puking your guts out to get your mind off your inner demons."

She waltzed into the medical ward, circling around behind the civilians like a wolf stalking its prey. Jiraiya caught Kakashi's eye and shrugged.

"Well… she's not wrong."

Kakashi gave a long-suffering sigh and followed Anko. He wasn't sure who he should be more worried about – Sasuke, or the shrinks.

Kakashi arrived in time to hear the terrified psychologists explaining the situation to Anko.

"He's disengaged from the present," said the shrink on the left.

"It's a form of extreme shock," added his partner. "The child's body is here, but his mind is miles away."

"Is that so?" Anko said, eyeing Sasuke shrewdly. "So the kid's catatonic, huh? I don't buy it."

"Ma'am, I assure you-"

The shrink who spoke was forced to dive out of the way of one of Anko's kunai. It flew straight for Sasuke's head, nearly giving Kakashi a heart attack. But Sasuke moved at the last second, ducking aside and turning a half-somersault to land on the tiled floor, knees bent and arms raised to defend his face. He had the look of a feral animal, backed into a corner.

"Well…" said Anko with satisfaction. "Not so 'disengaged' after all. Go back to your dissertations, shrinks. I'll take it from here."

The psychologists began to protest, quite volubly, until Kakashi grabbed them by their collars and dragged them gently but insistently to the door. "I think they're done here," he said to Jiraiya. "Make sure they report to the Hokage before they leave."

For the first time that day, Jiraiya smiled with genuine warmth. "Will do, kid. I'll leave Sasuke with you two, then. Try not to let that hellcat bruise him too much."

Kakashi inclined his head ironically, then rejoined Anko and Sasuke inside. Anko was engaging in a stare-off with the silent child.

"I'm not gonna hurt you, brat," she said at last. "Not unless you're asking for it, that is. Now, do you know why the two of us are here?"

No response. Sasuke relaxed his stance, but kept his mouth shut. Kakashi had to suppress a shiver when he saw the child's eyes – they were cold, dead orbs, devoid of light or warmth. He remembered a time when his own eyes looked exactly like Sasuke's… the days after he had discovered his father's corpse.

_We suffered similar pain_, Kakashi realized. _The pain of losing our entire family, and being abandoned by the person we loved most. Right now he's probably reliving the images, over and over. This room, me, Anko… I'll bet we don't even register as completely real right now. Reality for Sasuke is only the horror in his mind. _

"I won't ask you again," Anko said, her voice dropping to a warning growl. "Do you know why we're here?"

Sasuke remained silent. He began to turn away, possibly to walk back to the hospital bed. Anko pounced.

The last Uchiha found himself dangling by one leg, arms bound to his side with rope that he hadn't even seen unfurling. Anko's free hand held a kunai to the young boy's neck.

"We're here to babysit you, you little brat. And it's not a job I'm happy about, either. In fact, the need to abandon my missions to look after a baby like you is putting me in a _really_ bad mood. So… don't push me. When I ask you a question, you will respond. Is. That. Clear?"

Sasuke eyed the kunai, and Kakashi was glad to see a spark of fear come into those black eyes. Then he realized, a little too late, exactly how screwed up it was that he was _happy_ to see that fear.

He was debating at what point it would be necessary for him to step in, when Sasuke opened his mouth for the first time since before the massacre.

"Hn."

"A man of few words, eh? Meh… good enough." Anko flipped the Uchiha up and over, unraveling the rope binding him with a flick of her wrist. He landed with feline grace, backed up a step, and eyed her warily.

"Here's the deal, brat," Anko said, shaking a finger at him sternly. "I'm Anko, and the masked freak with the grandpa-hair is Kakashi. You do _exactly_ what we say, when we say it, and in return we'll make sure you live to see your tenth birthday. Got it?"

"Hn."

Anko gasped in mock astonishment. "What do you know, 'Kashi? He's a genius!"

"Don't call me that." Kakashi walked over to Sasuke, sizing him up openly. "We're truly sorry about your family," he said. He figured someone ought to say it, even though he could guess exactly what his words meant to Sasuke – that is to say, less than nothing. Sure enough, scorn flashed across Sasuke's face and disappeared a moment later. He didn't need platitudes from strangers, no matter how sincerely they were meant.

Kakashi sighed. "Let's get out of here. The hospital smell is making me sick."

oOoOo

Anko was glad to have this assignment, she really was. Being assigned to protect the last Uchiha clearly proved that the Hokage trusted her, and that meant a lot. Many Council members thought that Anko was still a traitor to the village, and should be thrown in jail, banished, or even executed. That last was Danzou's stance, the suspicious bastard.

If Anko carried out her duties well (meaning, if Sasuke didn't die), it would go a long way towards clearing her name. The elders would feel grateful to her, and the Hokage might trust her with more high-level missions.

She had been a little worried about an extended bodyguard detail, since work like that tended to dull a shinobi's reflexes. It didn't matter how dedicated you were – having to stay constantly alert, while usually being bored out of your mind, took a toll on the best of shinobi.

But the danger in this case was less than it could be, because of whom Anko had been paired with. Kakashi was a legend, and as his partner Anko would get to train exclusively with the Copy-nin for the duration of their assignment. It meant that she had a unique chance to improve her own skills, coming closer than ever before to her goal of taking down Orochimaru.

There was really only one drawback to this mission, and it was sitting across from Anko at her dining-room table. Sasuke slouched in his chair and maintained a stony silence.

Now, Anko had plenty of experience with hostile interrogations. One of the reasons the Hokage valued her was her ability to extract information from high-value targets. One of Anko's few supporters in the village – she wouldn't call him a _friend_, exactly – was Morino Ibiki, and the head of Konoha's Torture and Interrogation Unit had only praise for Anko's abilities.

She had broken iron-willed infiltrators from Suna, and out-crazied fanatical shinobi from the Bloody Mist. It was said by those in the trade that Anko could accomplish more with a kunai and her imagination than a veteran member of the Yamanaka clan could with his full range of mind-reading techniques.

Given Anko's experience and talent, staring down a child of seven should have been no problem. Yet Sasuke stubbornly clung to his silence, and he was even managing to make Anko uncomfortable – something she did _not_ appreciate.

Kakashi was better suited to maintaining tense silences, but he'd left for the evening, saying that there was something he needed 'to look into'. Anko tended to fill up silence with suggestive or threatening banter, neither of which were appropriate here. So… it was time to improvise.

"Well, then…" Anko said at last, folding her hands together and propping up her chin. "Looks like it's just the two of us until Kakashi gets back. Why don't we use this chance to get to know each other better?"

Anko immediately regretted that last sentence, as it was her preferred opener for interrogating a hostile suspect. Normally she'd be twirling a kunai casually with her pinky finger to set the proper tone, and her hands actually itched from the effort to stay still.

_Traumatized kid, traumatized kid, _Anko repeated silently like a mantra. _Must not lose temper. Must be patient… Gah!_

"Hn." Sasuke's grunt was the opposite of encouraging, but Anko plowed ahead.

"What do you do for fun? Do you like dolls? You look like the kind of kid who plays with dolls."

"No." His scornful expression spoke volumes more than his monosyllabic response.

Anko shrugged. "If you say so. What about food? You like dango?"

"Hn."

"You're a tough nut to crack, eh? Listen, kid, I'm gonna sit right here until you give me more than a grunt and a dirty look. Now, I once tortured a jounin from Suna for six months, breaking one bone a day until he talked. He was a tough bastard, trained all his life to withstand pain. Think about that, and ask yourself if you want to play this game with me."

Anko let Sasuke process that for a while, then pointed at him. "You. Talk."

Sasuke glared at her, challenge written plainly across his face. "This place is a dump."

Anko was startled into laughing, which spooked Sasuke more than her threat had.

_The kid's got a brass pair, all right._

Looking around, Anko had to admit the brat was right. Maybe she _should_ have cleaned up a bit, but then, she liked her place messy. She knew exactly where all the weapons were hidden, while an assailant would waste valuable seconds searching through all the clutter.

"I suppose it _would_ seem a bit low-rent compared with what you're used to," Anko agreed blandly, preparing to dig a little deeper. She wanted to see what would make Sasuke tick. "I bet your old house was always sparkling clean. I remember Fugaku being a bit anal about order-"

"Don't talk about my family!" Sasuke barked, jumping to his feet.

"Is that anger I see?" Anko shot back, smiling. "An actual, unfeigned emotion, unaccompanied by scornful expression or grunt? Here, kid… have a cookie."

"Shut up!" Sasuke shouted. "Don't treat me like a baby, and don't you dare talk about my family!"

_NOW we're getting somewhere!_

"Listen, kid," Anko waved her hand dismissively. "Best you learn this now, and from someone who isn't trying to kill you: life's a cruel joke, and people suck. I'm not gonna soften my words just 'cause you lost your ma and pa. So did a lot of people, me included. You don't like me talking about your family? Tough nuggets. What are you going to do about it?"

"I can stop you," Sasuke declared, holding himself as straight as possible.

_Not a bad idea,_ Anko realized._ If he's trying to kill me, then he won't be able to dwell on his memories._

"Why don't we take this outside, short stuff? I'm curious to see what skills you think you have. Don't worry, I won't hurt you… much."

oOoOo

The network of tunnels underneath Konoha was much as Kakashi remembered it: vast, claustrophobic, and depressing. He made his way along a path known only to Root operatives, turning dozens of times in near-total darkness. He sensed that he was being watched, but no one challenged him. Whether that was because he was expected or because his watchers didn't dare mess with him, Kakashi couldn't be sure.

He found Danzou exactly where he'd expected, in the war hawk's dank, cramped office in the heart of the subterranean maze. The office was sparsely furnished, with just one desk and a flickering light overhead. Danzou looked up from a heavy sheaf of papers, apparently unsurprised to see Kakashi standing before him.

Danzou chuckled drily. "Kakashi… I suppose it's too much to hope that you've come to your senses, and wish to return to the fold?"

Kakashi had not come here to waste time with small talk. "Stay away from Uchiha Sasuke."

As Danzou carefully controlled his reaction, Kakashi sensed a dozen chakra signatures appear nearby. If Danzou gave the word, Kakashi would have one hell of a fight on his hands. That was fine with Kakashi… in fact, his present mood might even be _improved_ with a grudge-match against Danzou and his cronies. The fact that he had very little chance of winning somehow didn't seem to matter all that much.

"I'm sure I have no idea what you mean." Danzou's craggy face was like lined stone.

"And _I'm_ sure you're full of shit. I don't know much, but I do know you're incapable of passing up a chance to brainwash someone with potential."

"If I'm incapable of stopping myself, then why did you waste your time coming down here?"

"You may be a conniving bastard, but you're not suicidal," Kakashi said, senses heightened in pre-battle readiness. "And that's what targeting the Uchiha boy would be: suicide."

"The Hokage has ordered the Uchiha child to be left alone, and the Hokage's word is law. I'm curious, however; _if_ I were so abysmally stupid as to disobey a direct order from the Hokage, why do you think you would be able to stop me? If my information is correct, you and Mitarashi Anko are the only shinobi tasked with Sasuke's protection. Do you honestly think you two would be enough, if anyone were to foolishly test the Hokage's will?"

"I hope we never find out," Kakashi said evenly, leaving Danzou to his papers. "Just remember what happened last time I went up against your cronies. I'm guessing a lot of resources goes into their brainwashing, and it'd be a shame to have all that go to waste."

Danzou let him have the last word, and the shadowy presence of the Root agents faded as they retreated farther into the darkness.

Kakashi had a lot to think about when he finally emerged from the network of tunnels, and could devote a portion of his mind to something other than staying alert for an ambush.

The truth was, Kakashi did not think his ultimatum to Danzou would have the least effect on how the old war hawk decided to act. No, Kakashi's true purpose in searching him out was to see his reaction when Kakashi warned him away.

And after seeing Danzou, Kakashi was puzzled. Sure, the old man had talked a big game. But Kakashi was absolutely certain – though he wasn't sure _why_ – that Danzou meant it when he said he wasn't planning to recruit Sasuke.

Of course Kakashi wasn't going to relax his vigilance by a hair. But the fact remained: he didn't think Danzou was planning to make a play for Sasuke. Which raised the question… why the hell not? In the absence of any other factors, Danzou would have been after Sasuke like a bull seeing red. Was his apparent restraint really because the last Uchiha was too visible, too well protected? Or was it something else?

All of Kakashi's instincts were screaming at him that there was a piece to this puzzle he didn't have yet. Whatever it was, the Hokage apparently didn't want him to know, or else the Hokage himself didn't know. But in the shinobi world, what you didn't know was often what ended up killing you. Worse, in this case, it might end up killing Sasuke.

Kakashi would not be doing his utmost to protect his charge unless he figured out the full story behind the Uchiha Massacre, and what, if any, role Danzou had played in it.

_I didn't want this mission, _Kakashi thought grimly as he moved at full speed across the rooftops towards Anko's house. _But it looks like I'm stuck with it. I couldn't save you, Obito… but I sure as hell won't let Sasuke die. I promise!_


	3. Anko's Resolution

**A/N: **So I was trying to write the latest chapter of **Rise**, when I had a wave of inspiration for this story instead. So this is me riding that wave, and I hope you enjoy the result. I'm envisioning some fun changes to canon that will have far-reaching effects down the line, as Sasuke's unlikely protectors start putting some wheels in motion. There are still five years until Sasuke and his yearmates reach graduation age, which is when the second phase of this story will begin.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto

**Chapter 3: Anko's Resolution**

Anko used a Body Flicker jutsu with milliseconds to spare, executing a chakra-aided jump that allowed her to evade the giant fireball currently setting her yard on fire.

_Damn! Little bugger almost got me…_

Anko stopped behind Sasuke, which was the only part of their makeshift arena—which was only Anko's fenced-in yard—safe from the fire attack. Sasuke knew that, however, so he was already in motion, scanning behind him while bringing his arms up defensively.

Anko's Summoned snakes wrapped around his hands and held him immobile. She brought the edge of her kunai to his neck, exerting _just_ enough pressure not to break the skin.

Sasuke didn't struggle, nor did his eyes drop to the kunai at his throat. He merely stared at Anko with determination and a hint of self-recrimination. "Let's go again."

Anko snorted. "That's seven times I've killed you today, and it's not even noon. Take a break, short stuff."

She released her jutsu. Sasuke didn't rub his arms, though they must have hurt. Anko's snakes were never gentle.

"I'm not tired," Sasuke snapped. "One more!"

Anko glared at Sasuke. They'd been over this—she was not his lackey, and giving orders would only result in him getting tied up and slobbered over by Kakashi's ninken. Shiba was particularly helpful, since the silver dog with the mohawk tuft enjoyed taunting Sasuke almost as much as Anko did.

Sasuke met Anko's glared for a full two seconds before he relented. "…please."

Anko twirled her kunai and grinned. "Since you ask so nicely."

As Sasuke once again tried to kill her, Anko reflected that the boy was a lot easier to deal with when he was like this. Sasuke in a fight was less guarded, less surly than when he interacted with people normally. Anko could read him better when he was fighting, maybe because focusing on a battle left him too preoccupied to mask his expressions.

In fact, Anko could practically see inside Sasuke's mind as he sparred, and she didn't always like what she saw. She saw him turning inward, only caring about Anko as a means to an end. She was a useful benchmark for his skills, and nothing more. If Sasuke could surpass her, he would be one step closer to killing his brother. And once he reached that point, if he ever did, he would dismiss Anko without a second thought.

The little brat was _exactly_ like Anko after Orochimaru abandoned her. Like Anko, Sasuke only saw others as tools, to be used then discarded when they were outgrown. It was understandable, given that everyone Sasuke had actually cared about was dead, not counting Itachi. Of course he would wall himself off from emotional attachments and view others in terms of their value as stand-in opponents and nothing else. Understandable, but not a good sign for the future.

It had taken Anko many years and some harsh words from people far wiser than she was to break her of that mentality. She didn't know if she could do the same for Sasuke, and frankly, she wasn't sure if she wanted to.

She didn't talk about her past for a reason, which was that dredging it up only encouraged old wounds to break open again and threaten her hard-earned equilibrium. Some people would have argued that borderline alcoholism wasn't equilibrium, but as far as Anko was concerned it beat the alternative.

_I'll take hangovers over nightmares any day._

Yes, Anko had her coping mechanisms, and so far they had kept her focused and brought her some measure of control. But now she was spending every day with Sasuke, and seeing his haunted, determined eyes was every bit as bad as the nightmares she kept at bay with sake or another warm body.

Seeing Sasuke was like looking into a mirror that showed her younger self, and Anko knew only too well what terrible decisions someone out of her mind with grief was capable of.

Not long after Orochimaru's defection, for example, Anko had tried to take her own life. She was in the Torture and Interrogation Recovery Ward, where injured suspects were allowed to recover before being interrogated. Life hadn't seemed worth living without Orochimaru, and Anko hadn't been able to face the hatred of many of Konoha's elders, who thought that as Orochimaru's student, Anko must have been infected by his vileness.

That had driven her over the brink, and if it weren't for Morino Ibiki Anko wouldn't have been alive today.

The grizzled veteran had wrestled with Anko for control of the kunai she tried to turn on herself. After pocketing the weapon, Ibiki proceeded to tear Anko into little strips with nothing but words. He yelled at her that suicide was the last resort of cowards and fools—a shinobi's life was a precious gift that should be given in service to one's village, not out of wounded pride or despair.

Now Anko took pride in the fact that she was a Special Jounin of Konoha, and a respected interrogator and infiltrator. She worked to improve her skills, all in preparation for the day she could confront Orochimaru and make her former teacher face justice for his crimes. It was a balance that was not easy to maintain, but Anko had been doing just fine until Sasuke came along, with the same pain that had almost destroyed her.

Anko wasn't sure if she was strong enough to help Sasuke learn the lessons he needed to learn. But she could imagine, in all too vivid detail, what Ibiki-sensei would say if he knew Anko didn't want to help Sasuke simply because it would open up old wounds.

She might not succeed—in the end, Sasuke was the only person who had control over how he reacted to the cards life had dealt him—but that was no excuse for not trying.

_Just sparring with Sasuke won't be enough… _Anko thought, coming to a reluctant decision._ I'm going to have to be a bit more proactive. Damn you, Ibiki. I hate having a conscience!_

Anko sighed gustily and returned her attention to Sasuke's latest attack. Sasuke's scissor kick missed as Anko ducked back, and she brought the fight to a swift conclusion by putting the boy in a submission hold.

"That's enough for today, brat. I've got better things to do with my time than watch you prance around like a drunken monkey. Go wash up—Kakashi's bringing lunch."

Anko let Sasuke go and walked away. A few seconds later the back of her neck prickled, which was her body's usual warning that something was wrong. She whirled, catching Sasuke mid-kick. He clenched his stomach muscles and turned in mid-air, sending a second kick with his free leg towards Anko's face. She caught that leg too, then shook him up and down like a farmer disorienting a chicken.

"Bad idea, brat," Anko laughed, eyes glinting dangerously.

oOoOo

When Kakashi returned with lunch from a nearby food vendor he found Sasuke in the front yard, trussed up like a hog at the butcher shop. Anko was sitting on his back while casually munching some dango. Sasuke was protesting the treatment volubly, but his voice was muffled by the rag stuffed into his mouth.

"Ah, Anko," Kakashi said, eye twitching, "I think you may have misunderstood the term 'baby-sitting.' I doubt the Hokage meant it literally."

Anko waved her now-empty dango skewer and grinned. "I'm just teaching little Sasuke here a valuable lesson about the price of failure. If you're going to attack a kunoichi when her back is turned, you'd best make damn sure you finish the job."

"Ah," Kakashi returned, deadpan. "Well, I wouldn't dream of interfering with Sasuke's education. I'll leave the food inside."

Sasuke picked himself up and dusted himself off, glaring at them both. He spat the rag out of his mouth. "I'm not a baby!" he declared. Turning away, he stalked back towards the house.

"They're so cute when they're that age," Anko laughed, loud enough for Sasuke to hear.

"Will Sasuke be safe on his own?" Kakashi asked, watching the last Uchiha slouch inside. "What if he runs?"

"He's already tried that," Anko replied breezily, wearing a wicked grin. "It didn't work out too well for him. Besides, the ninken are watching inside and outside the house. Sasuke will stay put, or he'll regret it. I'm planning on having a little chat with him in a while, after he calms donw."

Kakashi eyed Anko, one brow rising. "Oh? What kind of 'little chat' might that be?"

"Sasuke's pretty messed up in the head," Anko said. "It shows when he's fighting. No heart, just calculation. He's so focused on his own pain, I doubt if anyone else actually seems real to him right now. To put it bluntly, he's a few steps short of total psychopath, and I don't know how many steps exactly. I'm going to see if I can give him something new to think about."

"Sure that's a good idea?"

Anko shrugged. "I suppose I could give it time and see what happens. But I've been where that boy is, and I know what he's feeling. He thinks he's alone in the world—and hell, maybe he's right. But maybe I can connect somehow." She gave Kakashi a smile that almost felt genuine. "If it's a competition between his crazy and my crazy, mine will win any day."

Kakashi handed her one of the shopping bags and began walking towards the house. "You're not crazy," he said over his shoulder. "Just, ah… special. And bloodthirsty. Not to mention-"

"I get the picture, 'Kashi. Now shut it, unless you actually _want_ your insides to end up on your outsides."

"Uh… nope, I'm done."

"Thought so."

oOoOo

That evening, Anko ate dinner together with a silent and surly Sasuke. Kakashi was late, which was nothing new for the chronically behind-schedule jounin. Anko sometimes wondered what he did when "lost on the road of life," but she never asked. Everybody had their secrets.

When Sasuke finished eating he made as if to leave right away. Unless he wanted to spar, Sasuke tried to spend as little time as possible in Anko's company. Tonight, however, Anko wasn't going to allow him to slink away.

"Where do you think you're going, short stuff?" she demanded, quirking an eyebrow.

Sasuke simply stared at her, waiting.

"I've got a story to tell you," Anko said with misleading cheerfulness. She held out Sasuke's chair and guided him to his seat, clamping a hand on his shoulder to keep him from escaping. "And you're going to listen. Got it?"

"Hn."

He wasn't happy, but he was listening. It was the best Anko could hope for. She took a deep breath, wondering how to begin.

"Besides Itachi," Anko said at last, deliberately emphasizing the name to capture Sasuke's attention, "do you know who Konoha's most wanted criminal is?"

Sasuke held her gaze for a long moment. He shook his head curtly.

"A man named Orochimaru." Anko could say the name without trembling now, but that didn't mean it was easy. "He was the student of the Third Hokage, and one of the most brilliant minds ever to come from Konoha. But he wanted power, and began experimenting on humans to create more powerful jutsu. Children began disappearing… just vanishing from the street, from their homes. No one knew what was going on. Dozens of children gone without a trace… can you imagine what that was like? The fear that gripped the village?"

Anko paused, though she didn't expect Sasuke to respond.

"Orochimaru was responsible for the kidnappings, of course. He performed horrible experiments on the children, until the Third Hokage caught him. But Orochimaru managed to escape. He's at large somewhere, no doubt continuing to torture innocent people for the sake of his twisted experiments."

"So he's a criminal and a murderer," Sasuke said impatiently. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because he was my teacher, and I looked up to him more than anyone else in the world."

For perhaps the first time since the Uchiha Massacre, someone else held Sasuke's full attention. Anko leaned forward, fighting the memories welling up in order to focus entirely on Sasuke. She wanted him to remember every word.

"Orochimaru is a monster," she breathed. "He murdered hundreds of citizens, _children_, before he ran away. The darkest pit of the underworld is too kind for him. But sometimes…" she squeezed her eyes shut as her voice fell to a whisper. "Sometimes… I still wish he'd taken me with him."

That was the truth that haunted her at nights, when she tossed and turned without falling asleep. She would think back to the moment Orochimaru threw her away like a piece of trash, and always there was the shame that she hadn't been good enough. Would never be good enough.

Sasuke swallowed, and the sound brought Anko back to the present. Sasuke's face was stark and pale.

"How…" he whispered. "How do you make the nightmares go away?"

_Sake and a one-night stand,_ Anko thought, but then that was only a temporary measure and wouldn't work for Sasuke anyway.

"They haven't yet," Anko replied honestly. "It's been years, and I'm still waking up in the middle of the night. But I've got a plan to make them stop... Want to hear it?"

Sasuke nodded solemnly.

"I'm going to rip his throat out with my bare hands," Anko whispered, voice raw and hoarse. "I'm going to make it so I don't see his face in my mind _ever_ again. Maybe then I'll be able to sleep at night."

Anko cut herself off with an abrupt, bitter laugh. "Look at me, getting all worked up."

Sasuke watched her carefully, his dark eyes wide and round. He looked very young. "Are you strong enough?"

Anko stood up abruptly, pushing back her chair and sticking her hands in her pockets. "I guess we'll find out. But Kami knows I won't be fighting him alone. That's just stupid. You need people watching your back if you want to take down someone like Orochimaru… or Itachi."

"Hn." Sasuke's grunt was, as always, devoid of emotion. But Anko could practically see the wheels turning in Sasuke's mind as he mulled over what she said.

"I know what you're feeling," Anko said as she made her way to the door. "Because I felt it too. I still feel it. And I know nothing I say will keep you from trying to get stronger so you can avenge your family. But you don't need to shut everyone out to do it. It's okay to ask for help."

"I can't be weak," Sasuke whispered, causing Anko to pause by the door.

"That's not weakness," she tossed over her shoulder. "In fact, it's the definition of strength. The sooner you figure that out, the better."

Without waiting for Sasuke to respond, she pushed open the door and walked out. She saw Kakashi waiting outside on the cramped front porch.

"Eavesdropping?" Anko demanded, placing her hands on her hips. Kakashi held up his hands as if surrendering.

"Just passing by, and happened to overhear. Uh, no offense, Anko, but I thought the Hokage wanted us to... um, do pretty much the opposite of what you just did."

Anko shrugged, her eyes suspiciously bright. "Whatever. The brat was persuasive."

Kakashi sighed. "Anko... you okay?"

"Just peachy, thanks."

Kakashi reached out to put a hand on her shoulder, but she knocked his hand aside. A few more chakra-fueled steps and she reached the edge of her property. She needed to get away; to clear her head of a pair of yellow, snake-like eyes, and a mocking smile.

"Just don't drink!" Kakashi called after her. "We're on duty."

"Fuck off."

oOoOo

Later that night, Kakashi sensed motion outside the door to his bedroom. He palmed the kunai he always kept under his pillow, but decided on a hunch not to throw. The door opened, revealing Anko.

In the flickering light from the hall, she looked somehow smaller than usual. Frightened.

"I..." she swallowed, looked down, then tried again. "I know I'm going to dream about... him, and I... I don't want to be alone tonight. Please..."

She met his eyes again. Her eyes were sharp and clear, and her breath held no hint of alcohol. She was alone with her pain.

For answer, Kakashi pulled back a corner of his blanket - a wordless invitation. She clung to him tightly in the darkness, fully clothed. There was nothing romantic about her vulnerability. But Kakashi recognized in her the same fear, the same black dread that gripped him when he dreamed of Rin's blood on his hands. This was small comfort indeed, for a woman who'd suffered as Anko had, but it was all he could do for her.

Anko fell asleep eventually, and Kakashi surprised himself by drifting off as well.

When Kakashi awoke the next morning, Anko was already gone. Kakashi yawned mightily, reflecting that he hadn't dreamed of anything last night. He could count on one hand the number of nights of dreamless sleep he'd had in the last month, so it was an unexpected blessing. He felt refreshed.

Kakashi did a quick sweep of the grounds. He confirmed with Pakkun, who had been on night watch, that no one had come close to the perimeter. Then he went back inside and whipped up a hasty breakfast of ramen. It was only 5am, and Sasuke was still fast asleep.

As Kakashi was finishing his ramen, Anko came through the front door. She was sweaty and breathing hard, most likely from some strenuous early-morning workout at one of the training areas reserved for shinobi of chuunin rank and above.

Anko crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at Kakashi. "So that's how you eat with the mask," she said. "I've always wondered."

Kakashi shrugged. "Don't give away the secret, okay? I don't want it getting back to Gai."

"Speaking of secrets," Anko changed the topic. "About last night. If you tell anyone what happened, I'll kill you."

"What do you mean?" Kakashi asked, deliberately casual. "Nothing happened."

Anko nodded vigorously. "Exactly. What happened last night is a secret you'll take to the grave, understood? If an Inuzuka asks why our scents are mingled, tell them we had sex. Tell them I screwed you so hard you couldn't see straight. But if you tell them the truth…"

"That we cuddled?" Kakashi asked innocently. For some reason Anko's prickliness brought out a playful side in him, one he hadn't known existed until now.

He dodged a kunai aimed at his throat. Anko held another, ready to throw.

"If you ever use... that word... again, I promise you'll regret it."

"And Kakashi..." she added as she ducked back out the door. "Thanks."

"No problem," Kakashi called out as the door slammed closed.

_Any time._ He shook his head, wondering where that thought had come from. It took him another moment to wonder why Anko had left. Wasn't she going to eat breakfast?

oOoOo

Shikaku was enjoying a quiet breakfast with his teammates, Inoichi and Chouza. The three fathers didn't often have the time to get together, given that they all had to balance their jobs as high-ranking shinobi, their responsibilities as heads of their respective clans, and the headaches that came with being parents and husbands. But whenever they could, they snuck off to their favorite restaurant to grab a bite to eat and talk.

This morning they were swapping stories of their children, who were all in the same year at the Shinobi Academy. Shikaku was a bit worried about Shikamaru, who had already been reprimanded multiple times for skipping class in order to take naps. Inoichi was practically glowing as he recounted Ino's latest academic success—apparently the girl showed promise.

Shikaku was contemplating the necessity of leaving for work when a commotion near the entrance to the restaurant drew his attention.

"Ma'am, we simply cannot allow you to make a disturbance here-"

"Believe me, buddy, if you don't get out of my way right now you'll see exactly how much of a _disturbance_ I can make!"

Shoving a protesting waiter out of her way, Mitarashi Anko marched over to Shikaku's table and sat down next to Chouza. Shikaku and his teammates watched Anko with surprise. She was one of the younger generation of up-and-coming shinobi; quite skilled, but not affiliated with a larger clan and not experienced enough to have much of a reputation outside the village yet. She had the look of an Inuzuka hound on a tracking mission; Shikaku wondered what she had come for.

"I've been looking all over for you!" Anko informed Shikaku, as if it were _his_ fault that she hadn't found him at the Nara compound.

"You've found me," he said with a touch of amusement. "Now what?"

"I need some advice," she said, casually swiping a piece of bread from the loaded tray in front of Chouza. She bit off a chunk and chewed with evident satisfaction. "Scrmf… delicious. I haven't had breakfast, you know. Anyway, advice! I thought if anyone could help me, it would be the smartest guy in the village."

"I'll do my best," Shikaku said, more confused than ever. Inoichi and Chouza were openly grinning, anticipating what Anko was going to say next.

"So you know I've been made Sasuke's bodyguard, right?" Anko began.

Shikaku nodded. As Jounin Commander, he had been informed of the Hokage's plan even before Kakashi and Anko had been assigned to the job. He thought Anko was perhaps a bit inexperienced for the job, but then her… unique… experiences might compensate for that.

Anko sighed, then proceeded to polish off the remainder of Chouza's food. "Well, the kid's pretty messed up."

"It would be strange if he weren't," Shikaku said sadly. "No one could go through what he did and come out unscathed."

"Exactly. And I'm trying to make sure the kid gets _un_-screwed up. Problem is, that's not really my area of expertise. Kind of the opposite, when you think about it. So I thought I'd pick that gigantic brain of yours, and see if you can think of anything. How can I get Sasuke to stop obsessing over his brother, or at least channel some of his energy in a healthier direction?"

Shikaku scratched his chin, considering what Anko had said. He was impressed with her, and he agreed that it was an important, if thorny problem. No matter how talented or resilient, Sasuke was just a child. You couldn't expect a child to go through hell without changing, and Shikaku's experience—not to mention his friend Inoichi's lessons on the way the mind actually worked—led him to believe that the change wasn't always for the better. Victims of trauma sometimes grew up to be aggressors, unconsciously replicating the very crimes that had originally made them suffer. It would be a terrible tragedy if that happened to the last loyal Uchiha.

Anko was tapping her foot impatiently by the time Shikaku finished thinking through the problem. He thought he had an idea, though only time would tell if it was a good one. In any case, Shikaku didn't think his strategy could make anything any _worse_, and in his line of work that was the kind of strategy that one rarely encountered.

"You know the Nara clan raises deer," he mused at last, after draining the remainder of his mug of tea. "Well, a few years back we had a little fawn that lost his mother. He went into a funk that lasted days. Wouldn't play with the others, wouldn't even eat. We tried everything, but nothing worked… until we introduced the fawn to another fawn whose mother died giving birth. The older one practically adopted the younger one. Looked after him, even protected him. Somehow, having to take responsibility for another creature gave the fawn the push it needed to keep on living."

Chouza was giving him a puzzled look, but Shikaku ignored him.

"Responsibility, hm?" Anko repeated, intrigued. "Interesting… I'll have to think about that. Thank you, sir!"

She was gone in a flash, disappearing as suddenly as she had arrived.

Chouza looked at the door where Anko had left, then turned back to Shikaku and scratched his head. "I've never heard you tell that story before, buddy."

"That's because it never happened," Inoichi said, sending a shrewd glance at his commander and best friend. "Am I right?"

Shikaku nodded and signaled the waiter to get him some more tea. He would have preferred something stronger, but his wife would kill him if she thought he was using his get-togethers with Chouza and Inoichi as an excuse to start drinking again.

"Obviously I'm missing something," Chouza said, glancing back and forth between his two teammates. "What gives?"

"Don't worry about it, Chouza," Shikaku said easily. "Explaining would be… troublesome."

oOoOo

Back at Anko's house, Kakashi was busy laying plans. Sasuke was outside in the yard, practicing his evasion skills. That was a fancy way of saying that Kakashi's ninken were having a grand old time burrowing through the ground and springing out without warning, trying to pin Sasuke to the ground.

Sasuke's task was to escape, and so far he was doing a decent job for his seven years. Kakashi had captured jounin with the help of his ninken, though, so he was confident Sasuke would have his hands full.

The purpose of the training had a deeper purpose, of course, and that was to try to get Sasuke to have fun.

Kakashi hoped that playing with dogs, even if they were deadly ninken who would rather kill a man than fetch a stick (except for Pakkun, who actually quite liked playing catch), would make Sasuke feel a bit happier. Dogs were good therapy, that was a simple fact—if Sasuke saw it as training and picked up a few skills at the same time, all the better.

While Sasuke trained, Kakashi schemed. There were a dozen things he wanted to do first; any number of avenues he could explore in order to figure out more about his self-appointed mission to get to the bottom of the Uchiha Massacre. He thought the best way to start was to reach out to Tenzou, who had recently begun his career in ANBU after Kakashi had brought him to his senses regarding Danzou.

Tenzou might have some info that only ANBU were aware of, and if it wasn't something classified, he would certainly share with Kakashi. Even if there _was_ classified information that Tenzou couldn't share, Kakashi was confident he could read Tenzou's reactions and figure out whether he had to go higher on the totem pole.

Just as Kakashi had decided to go in search of Tenzou, the door crashed open and Anko waltzed into the kitchen looking inordinately pleased with herself.

"I'm brilliant!" she announced in a sing-song voice, slinging herself down into the chair next to Kakashi and putting her booted feet on the table.

Kakashi blinked. "How?"

She punched him in the arm, and even though she was playing, Kakashi winced. Anko hit _hard!_

"I meant, how were you brilliant specifically? Or were you announcing your brilliance as a general observation?"

"Shut it, smart mouth! I'm brilliant because I finally figured out what we can do for Sasuke. He needs a sibling!"

Kakashi felt like he'd missed something.

"Um… he _had_ one," Kakashi pointed out blankly. "Didn't work out too well, for Sasuke _or_ Konoha."

"Not a big brother like Itachi," Anko said impatiently. "Not an idol that can let him down. Someone his own age or younger. Someone he feels responsible for. Someone who needs him, who looks up to him. Right now Sasuke's thinking, '_Why did my big brother leave me?!_' We need him to be thinking, '_I'll never let my little brother or sister get hurt the way I did!_' See what I'm saying?"

"I… suppose," Kakashi said slowly. It wasn't necessarily a _bad_ idea… but would it really work? And how could they possibly implement it? "But, ah, where would this hypothetical sibling come from?"

Anko's posture changed to become positively seductive. She walked around the table to Kakashi, eyes smoldering and hips swaying in a way that made Kakashi cough uncomfortably. He tugged at his mask, which suddenly felt hot and itchy against his face. "Oh, Kakashi," Anko purred. "Do I _really_ have to explain to you about the birds and the bees?"

"I… no… that is…" he stammered weakly.

Anko dropped the act, laughing uproariously. "Oh, don't get your mask in a twist, Kakashi. I'm not suggesting we make him ourselves. No, there have got to be plenty of children on the streets who would _love_ a chance to join our wacky little family."

"Slow down, Anko," Kakashi said, starting to feel a bit alarmed. Things were rapidly getting out of hand. "Who said anything about family? Sasuke is our mission, that's all. And he's a handful as it is. Now you want us looking after another child?! Are you crazy?"

"I'm not legally required to answer that," Anko joked with a straight face. "And anyway, compared to Sasuke how much trouble could another brat be? A little extra effort now, a bit more grocery money every week, and we might make things easier for ourselves down the road. We just need to find a brat no one wants, then throw him or her together with Sasuke and see what happens. If he's anything like a deer, it'll be fine!"

"Like a deer? What-" Kakashi cut himself, putting a hand to his temple. He felt a migraine coming on.

"You're fine here, right?" Anko said breezily. "I'm off to get Sasuke a sibling."

"Hold it, Anko!" Kakashi shouted, even as Anko used the Body Flicker jutsu to exit the house. "You can't just steal a child! How the hell are you going to find someone Sasuke's age or younger with no family and no place to call home? It's not like children like that are just running around in the street! …Oh, dear Kami. Anko, don't even _think_-"

But she was long gone.

_The Hokage is going to kill me…_

oOoOo

It was a beautiful day for pranking, and Uzumaki Naruto was taking full advantage of it. Though only seven years old, he was already well versed in the art of evasion. He needed those skills, because at that very moment he was racing across the rooftops of Konoha with chuunin in hot pursuit.

A trio of chuunin tried to trap Naruto by approaching him from three different sides, but Naruto foiled their efforts with a nifty Substitution jutsu. The technique didn't always work, but that time it worked spectacularly. He couldn't help but laugh as his pursuers converged on a loose chimney tile, while Naruto himself reappeared several rooftops away.

Several minutes of hair-raising pursuit and a calculated detour through an open window later, Naruto managed to give his pursuers the slip for a moment. He ducked into an alley and hunkered down next to a dumpster, taking a second to catch his breath.

"HA! Idiots. They should know better than to chase me by now!"

Naruto spoke aloud to himself, ignoring the twinge of sadness that he felt when there was no one around to hear. It was the normal state of things, though. He was always alone, except at the Academy. And there it was even worse, because none of the children wanted to play with him. Not even the instructors seemed to like him.

"Pretty slick, brat. You run away from shinobi often?"

Naruto whirled around in shock. How had they found him?

He saw a strange-looking woman perched casually on the low-hanging roof, her legs dangling down. She had brown hair and wore a trenchcoat over a mesh shirt, and if it weren't for her Konoha hitai-ite Naruto wouldn't have believed that such an odd-looking person was indeed a shinobi. She munched on a stick of dango with a casual air, as if she did this every day.

"How did you catch up to me?" Naruto asked. He thought he'd covered his tracks so well this time…

"Never mind that, brat."

The woman seemed to disappear, and the next thing Naruto knew she was standing right beside him. He stumbled backwards, jaw dropping.

"The name's Mitarashi Anko," she said, extending her hand. "And I'm gonna ask you a few questions. Ready?"

Naruto shook her hand, wondering if this was a dream. He couldn't think of anyone besides the Hokage who had willingly introduced themselves to him before, much less talked to him without barely repressed revulsion or outright hostility.

"Su… sure. Ask me!"

Anko took out a notebook and a writing brush from a pocket of her trenchcoat. "Are you an orphan?" she asked matter-of-factly.

"Yes," Naruto replied, feeling his face flush with shame. He didn't know _why_ he felt ashamed at that question, but nevertheless he did.

Anko nodded and checked off something in her notebook.

"If you were to fall off the face of the earth, would anyone miss you?"

"Of course!" Naruto blurted out. "Loads of people!"

Anko merely stared at him over the top of her notebook. Naruto drew back, eyes falling.

"Well… the old man might be sad. And Teuchi! Though maybe he'd just be sad not to sell as much ramen…"

Naruto wasn't sure he liked this Anko after all. She kept asking questions that weren't nice at all.

"Last question," Anko said, making one more note in her notebook. "Would you like to come live with me?"

Naruto froze. He thought he must have heard wrong. "Wh-what did you say?"

"I didn't stutter, brat. I asked if you wanted to come live with me. I have an important mission for you, and the only way you can fulfill it is if you stay with me and a few others."

Naruto tried to stay cool. It wasn't every day someone came up and offered you your heart's desire, and he had the bizarre sense that if he let slip exactly how much he wanted to say yes, Anko might change her mind and leave him.

"Um… what's the mission?" he asked, when his brain finally processed the second part of Anko's offer.

"It's something of the utmost importance to the village," Anko assured him. "It won't be an easy job, but I think you're right for it. See, I'm looking after another boy about your age, and he needs a best friend. Can you do it?

"Of course!" Naruto burst out, unable to play it cool any longer. This lady wasn't just offering him a home, but a friend his own age?! "I'll be the bestest best friend ever, just you wait!"

Anko shook a finger at him sternly. "I'm gonna hold you to that. Now, let's go. We've got a lot to do, and no better time to start than now!"

Naruto stared at her outstretched hand, suddenly unaccountably afraid. "You mean… now? Right now?"

"When did you think I meant, next week?" Anko said with exasperation, tapping her foot impatiently. "Come on! Oh, I almost forgot. Take this dango skewer, and this too. It's called an exploding tag. Let's see if we can't singe the eyebrows off a few of those chuunin on the way home. They need someone to keep them on their toes."

Naruto ate the offered dango in quiet wonder, and when he was done he wrapped the explosive tag around the skewer with reverence. Anko gestured to the rooftops, inviting Naruto to lead the way.

The subsequent trip across the rooftops was like a blur in Naruto's mind. But even in his euphoria over the dual pleasures of food and explosives, Naruto did not miss the fact—and how could he possibly have missed it?—that Anko had used the word '_home_'.


	4. The Fox and the Hounds

**A/N: **And we're rolling! Ideas are coming in fast and furious for this story, so I'm going to follow my muse wherever she leads. If I don't, she gets back at me later.

Anyway, this time we see the first meeting between Sasuke and Naruto, while Kakashi and Anko argue about what to do with our favorite blond troublemaker. There will be maybe five or six more chapters for this section of the story, and then we'll skip five years to arrive at Naruto and Sasuke's graduation from the Academy. I've got some big changes in store, and I hope you enjoy them. Happy reading!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _Naruto_

**Chapter 4: The Fox and the Hounds**

* * *

_Step 1: Don't Be Afraid to Talk About the Traumatic Event_

Children do not benefit from 'not talking about it' or 'putting it out of their minds.' You may not have good verbal explanations for what happened, but simply listening and not over-reacting to the subject and then comforting the child will have a critical and long-lasting positive effect.

\- excerpt from _Caring For Traumatized Children,_ by Morino Ibiki

* * *

Anko and Kakashi faced each other across the dining table, in the little kitchen of Anko's house. Even with his mask and hitai-ite covering eighty percent of his face, Kakashi managed to radiate displeasure. Anko had been on both sides of the interrogation table in her time, and she knew which side this felt like.

"Look here," she said hurriedly, hoping to break the tense silence. "There are a lot of reasons why this is a good idea-"

"Name one," Kakashi broke in. His tone was absolutely even, despite the irritation Anko could read in his uncovered eye.

"It'll start getting Sasuke to socialize again," Anko said promptly. "He can't spend all his time fighting me. I'm awesome, I know, but constant fighting with only two adults for company isn't a childhood. Sasuke needs to spend some time with kids his own age."

"So set up a play-date with the children of some of the clan heads," answered Kakashi. "There are a few in the same year as Sasuke at the Academy, like those Ino-Shika-Cho miniatures or that hellspawn of Tsume's."

_Don't do it, don't do it…_ But it was no use. Anko had no choice.

"Did you just say 'play-date'?" Anko smirked.

She could practically see Kakashi's cheeks redden, even through the mask.

"No."

"Oh. 'Cause I could have sworn I heard you say 'play-date.' But if you didn't-"

"I didn't. Let's get back to the point. Why do we have to take in another child just so Sasuke can interact with other kids? And why, in the name of all the Kages past and present, does it have to be Naruto?"

Anko folded her arms and narrowed her eyes. There was something else going on here, 'underneath the underneath' as her Cyclopic colleague would say, and you didn't need to be an expert in interrogation to figure that out.

"What's so wrong with Naruto?" Anko said, parrying Kakashi's question with one of her own. "With your reputation—leave no teammate behind, and all that—I wouldn't have figured you for a bigot. You don't like the brat because he holds the Kyuubi?"

"Don't be ridiculous!" said Kakashi, with considerable heat. "Of course I don't hold a grudge against Naruto for something he can't control. That's not what this is about."

Anko decided to play her trump card—or one of her trump cards, at least. She tried to always have a few of those ready before walking into hazardous situations.

"And I remember reading somewhere that one Namikaze Minato was your jounin-sensei! What would the Fourth say, if he could see you now? Aren't you ashamed?"

The sudden blast of killing intent told Anko she had hit a nerve. It also scared the shit out of her. She held herself very still, watching Kakashi as a mouse watched a cat. He wouldn't try to kill her in her own home, while they were still on a mission to protect Sasuke… right?

Kakashi's voice was colder than ice and far more deadly. "Don't you dare use the Fourth to try and manipulate me. I remember him every day, and I'm grateful for everything he taught me. But I hold no obligation to Naruto beyond the orders left by the Third Hokage. Taking him in will only create problems, and we'll have enough of those just keeping Sasuke safe."

Anko surprised herself by slamming her hand down on the table. She hadn't meant to get so worked up, but it was too late now.

"You cold-hearted bastard. How can you say that? Don't you know how the villagers and the other shinobi treat the boy?"

"We all have problems," Kakashi shrugged. "If he gets through it, he'll be stronger on the other side. And the Hokage's orders protect him."

Anko was well and truly angry now. "Do you think the only way to hurt someone is by force? I would have thought that you, of all people, would understand how facing social isolation and hatred from your comrades is a darn good way to drive a shinobi to the brink. You want to risk that for Naruto? After your own father-"

Kakashi's killing intent flared again, and Anko cut herself off. But she refused to let him intimidate her when she was just speaking the truth as she saw it. She glared right back at him, adding a '_hmph'_ for good measure.

Kakashi took a deep breath, visibly calming himself down. "Aren't you getting a bit too worked up over Naruto?" Kakashi asked. "I mean, you're only using him in a half-baked attempt to get Sasuke to open up to someone. Naruto is just a tool to you—worrying about his well-being _now_ seems a bit hypocritical, don't you think?"

"You're not wrong," Anko admitted. "Still, the brat grows on you. He's a regular little ray of sunshine, that one. Don't you want to see if he can get Sasuke past his doom-and-gloom phase?"

"You don't just 'get past' what happened to Sasuke!" Kakashi burst out, driven by Anko's goading to painful honesty. "Something like that stays with you, no matter how many years it's been. You see their faces on people walking by, hear their voices in the wind…"

His gaze dropped to the table, but Anko doubted he even saw it. She also doubted he was talking about Sasuke anymore. Anko gave Kakashi a moment before she spoke.

"Whose faces?" she asked, her voice uncharacteristically soft. "Whose voices, Kakashi? Are you talking about your father?"

Kakashi gathered his self-control like a second mask. "Among others," he said, once again cold and curt. "We've all lost comrades. People we want to protect. And our mission is only going to get _more_ difficult, not less, because of what you're doing."

Somehow, Kakashi's emotionless armor ticked Anko off more than anything else. The flash of sympathy she had experienced shriveled up and vanished.

"How the hell do you figure that?!" Anko snarled. "I'm cutting you some slack because you've obviously got some issues to work through—and honestly, join the club—but there's a limit to the bullshit I'm willing to take from you! Naruto is not a security risk; he's a child!"

"One who happens to contain the Kyuubi," Kakashi pointed out. "Do you think the Village Council will appreciate putting an untrained jinchuuriki under the same roof as the only Uchiha the village has left? They won't stand for it!"

"If the Hokage orders them to get over it, it won't matter if they stand for it, sit for it, or go shit in a bucket—they won't have a choice about accepting Naruto."

"And good luck getting the Hokage to agree!" Kakashi said, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "If he wanted Naruto to have a babysitter, he would have assigned him one by now."

"Well, I'm scratching my head as to why he hasn't," Anko spat back. "The more I think about it, the more it seems like he's creating a bigger threat by allowing Naruto to grow up alone and uncared for. What if he runs into someone like Orochimaru?"

Kakashi started to reply, then snapped his mouth shut and sat back, thinking. "Someone like Orochimaru?" he asked a moment later. "What do you mean?"

Anko winced, kneading her temples with both hands. She felt a headache coming on. "What do you think is the scariest thing about Orochimaru?"

"That creepy jutsu he does with his tongue?" Kakashi guessed. "Jiraiya told me about that once. Scared the chakra out of me."

"Ah… well, yeah. Besides that. The scariest thing about Orochimaru is how he inspires devotion in people. There are more people than you'd think who crave acknowledgment; crave affection. I was one of them. Orochimaru sees that in you, and makes you feel special… even loved. If I had had someone who genuinely cared for me, maybe I wouldn't have been so quick to throw away my life for a murderer. Naruto is no different from me. Believe me, taking him in is the right thing to do. Not just for him, but for Konoha. And you can be _damn_ sure that the Hokage will agree with me, or he's not the man I thought he was."

Kakashi crossed his arms stubbornly, though his uncovered eye looked thoughtful. "I won't agree unless the Hokage gives his permission. And you can damn well get it without my help."

"Fine," Anko huffed. "Then you keep an eye on the brats until I get back. I'll handle the old man."

"What am I supposed to do with a pair of kids?" Kakashi snapped. "Play hopscotch?"

Anko shook her head, a small grin tugging at the corner of her mouth. "I doubt you'll need to do a thing. The two of them are outside, getting acquainted. They'll figure things out in their own way, like children always have. That's sort of why I brought Naruto in the first place, remember?"

In spite of himself, Kakashi felt a twinge of curiosity. How would the last Uchiha react to Minato-sensei's son? And what was Naruto really like—how had he grown up? Kakashi had been far too busy in the last seven years to check up on the boy, but he would be lying if he said he didn't want to know.

"I saw Sasuke's expression when I dropped Naruto off," Anko said over her shoulder as she headed for the back door. "You may actually need to step in… before one of them kills the other."

oOoOo

Anko's front yard was empty, save for two boys facing each other like two gunmen about to duel. They stood five paces away, each sizing up the other. Naruto's expression was guarded, his posture cautious. Sasuke wore his usual scowl, hands in his pockets. You could practically feel the tension.

"So."

"Hn."

"Are you Sasuke?"

"Hn."

Naruto nodded slowly, taking Sasuke's noncommittal grunt in the affirmative. "I'm Naruto… your new best friend!"

Naruto's face broke into a huge smile and he took a flying leap through the air. Horror spread across Sasuke's face, but he was too shocked to avoid Naruto's airborne bear hug. Naruto squeezed with all his strength, until Sasuke knocked him a step back with a swift elbow to his stomach.

Naruto staggered backward. He glared at Sasuke as he gingerly rubbed his ribs.

"Hey, what'd ya do that for? It was just a hug."

From the look on Sasuke's face, you would have thought Naruto had used the most obscene curse word in the dictionary. "I don't hug."

"Then what _do_ you like to do?" Naruto asked brightly.

"None of your business," Sasuke retorted. "Go away."

Naruto's eyes grew wide and he shook his head rapidly. "I can't! I live here now. Anko promised."

One of Sasuke's eyes twitched. "Then I'm leaving. I don't want to live with a weak dummy like you."

"I'm not weak!" Naruto retorted. "I'm gonna be Hokage, the strongest ninja in the whole village. Then everyone will acknowledge me!"

That startled a bark of laughter out of Sasuke. "You? The Hokage? A weakling like you doesn't have a chance."

On the one hand, Naruto didn't want to do anything that would make his new best friend angry. On the other, Naruto had been dealing with people who made fun of his dream for as long as he could remember. No way he was going to let this kid get away with that, best friend or no.

"You take that back!" he roared, shaking a fist.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, his smirk infuriating Naruto even further. "Make me," he taunted, holding out two fingers in the universal "come here" gesture.

Oh no he didn't. Naruto wasn't about to take that lying down.

"Yaaaaah!" He charged towards Sasuke, preparing to unleash his strongest right hook. But when he swung, Sasuke leaned back just far enough for Naruto's fist to pass harmlessly in front of his nose. Then Sasuke spun in place, generating momentum to lash out with his left leg in a roundhouse kick that hit Naruto square in the stomach.

Naruto flew off his feet as the air left his lungs in a _whoosh_. He landed in a heap several feet away.

"You're pretty good," Naruto coughed, too honest to lie. That kick had _hurt!_ But he wasn't done yet.

"And you're pretty bad," said Sasuke, turning his back on Naruto.

"I'm just getting started!" Naruto yelled as he picked himself back up. He charged at Sasuke's back. "Turn around and fight, jerk!"

Sasuke didn't move until the last moment, when he shifted fluidly to the right and stuck out his left leg. This time Naruto went flying forward, picking up a mouthful of grass and dirt when he finally hit the ground.

It took a little longer this time for Naruto to get back up. His ears were ringing.

"_Ptew!_" He spit to get rid of the grass, but he could still taste the dirt as he turned to face Sasuke again. "Is that all you've got?!"

"You can't even touch me," Sasuke sneered, putting his hands back in his pockets. "And you think _you_ can be Hokage? No way."

Naruto balled his fists, wanting nothing more than to smack that superior look off the other boy's face. "Here I come!"

He charged forward faster than before—it was like his anger had given him wings. Sasuke set himself to receive the attack, lowering his center of gravity.

But as Naruto came within a meter of Sasuke and prepared to lead with a flying kick, his foot caught a tuft of grass and he tripped. His momentum carried him forward head-first.

Sasuke, who had been expecting Naruto's kick, was caught off-guard by Naruto's blunder. The blond's forehead caught Sasuke flush on the right side of his face, with all the force of a flying tackle. Sasuke staggered backwards and clapped a hand to his right eye.

Naruto let out a cheer after he untangled his legs and got back to his feet. "Ha! Take that!"

Sasuke brought his hands up in a ready stance, and Naruto's spirits soared at the sight of the beautiful shiner Sasuke was sporting. The area around his eye was already swelling, and in a day or so it would turn into a spectacular bruise.

"Not so great now, are you?" Naruto crowed.

"You tripped," Sasuke pointed out, scowling. "You didn't mean to do that."

"Surprise is a ninja's number one weapon!" Naruto tossed back. He vaguely remembered the Old Man telling him that—sometimes, when the Hokage visited him every now and again, he gave Naruto advice about being a shinobi. Seemed like that bit had actually paid off! Even if he _had_ tripped…

A dark cloud passed over Sasuke's face, and his hands came together to form hand seals that Naruto didn't recognize. "Take this! _Katon: Gou-_"

Whatever he was planning, he didn't have the chance to put it into action. The ground beneath his feet rumbled and split open, and a trio of furry creatures jumped out at him.

By the time Naruto realized that they were dogs, they had already captured Sasuke. A dog with tan fur, a white snout, and a hitai-ite on his forehead clutched Sasuke's leg in his jaws, while a dog with light gray fur and a crest that looked like a mohawk clung off of his right arm.

Last but certainly not least was the gigantic bulldog with a spiked collar that landed on top of Sasuke and crushed the smaller boy into the ground. Only Sasuke's head and limbs could be seen, with the rest of him hidden underneath the bulldog.

The sight of Sasuke in the middle of a dog-pile was too much for Naruto. He fell to the ground and rolled around, laughing uproariously. Because of that, he was caught completely unprepared when the ground around him split open too.

A tan dog wearing sunglasses trapped Naruto's right leg, and a smaller dog with the kanji for "shinobi" in the middle of his forehead trapped his other leg. Naruto was preparing to reach down and free himself, when a third dog he hadn't even seen landed on his head and drove him face-first into the dirt. For the second time that day, Naruto picked up a mouthful of earth.

"That's enough for now, pups," a deep voice boomed from on top of Naruto's head. "Nothing like a good scuffle, but now's not the time to be playing with fire."

"_Mmph_… _scrmph_… lemme up!" Naruto demanded, trying not to swallow too much dirt. _He_ hadn't been the one to try to use a jutsu in a simple spar… though that might have been due more to the fact that he didn't know any, rather than any unwillingness to fight dirty.

The dogs holding his legs loosened their grips, and the one on his head leapt aside. Naruto stood up gingerly. He had never seen dogs like this, all wearing blue vests and Konoha hitai-ite. And he _certainly_ had never met a dog that talked.

The dog that had stood on his head was the smallest of them all, a cute pug with a look that said he would tolerate zero nonsense.

"This fight's over," the pug declared in his startlingly deep, gruff voice. "You hear that, Sasuke-kun? Can I tell Bull to get off you, or do you need more time to cool off?"

Sasuke continued to struggle, but the giant Bull wasn't going anywhere. The boy glared at Pakkun and Naruto, but finally gave a short nod.

"Hn."

"Fine," Pakkun said. "Bull, Guruko, Shiba. Let the boy up."

The dog with the mohawk let go of Sasuke's arm and chuckled. "A pity we had to stop that fight. Things were just heating up."

"You're too bloodthirsty for your own good, Shiba," said the tan dog with glasses, who had relinquished his hold on Naruto's leg. "Would you really want to explain to Kakashi that someone was killed on our watch?"

"Don't be such a killjoy, Akino," retorted Shiba. "Let the pups have a bit of fun."

The bulldog finally stood up, allowing Sasuke to free himself. He stalked away to the house, not sending so much as a look over his shoulder.

_And good riddance_, Naruto thought. What a jerk!

"You're a sucky best friend!" he yelled at Sasuke's retreating back.

The pack of ninja hounds chuckled at that, but Naruto didn't see what was so funny.

oOoOo

From his vantage point on the roof of Anko's house, Kakashi had watched the confrontation as it unfolded, unnoticed by either of the fiery youths. From the moment Naruto had caught Sasuke with his unexpected Bear Hug no Jutsu, Kakashi had been hard-pressed not to give away his position with an ill-timed snort of laughter. Things only got more interesting from there, as Naruto took the best that Sasuke could dish out and kept on coming.

For a seven-year-old, Sasuke's taijutsu was impressive. And while Naruto certainly looked clumsy by comparison, his stamina and determination were both far beyond what most shinobi families would expect of a child that age.

Kakashi had seen Sasuke spar against Anko, but he was a bit surprised at how willing Sasuke was to use a potentially deadly jutsu on a boy his own age. That could be a sign that Sasuke was already starting to value other people's lives less, his ability to empathize damaged by the trauma he'd suffered.

On the other hand, it could just be a side effect of spending too much time with Anko. At least he hadn't picked up any of Anko's creepy tricks meant to unnerve enemies, like licking the edge of her kunai… That one made even Kakashi shiver.

Kakashi was used to analyzing potential enemies by watching them fight, and he had applied those skills while watching Naruto and Sasuke scuffle. But more than personality quirks or fighting styles, what jumped out at Kakashi was the uncanny similarity these boys bore to him and Obito, back in the early days on Minato's team.

Sasuke, cold and surly, emotionally crippled and convinced of his own superiority. His entire family gone, destroyed from within. How much more like Kakashi was it possible to be? And Naruto, so brash and clumsy and earnest. He even shared Obito's dream… and those ridiculous goggles!

Watching the boy actually made Kakashi's heart ache, as the memory of his best friend, never totally gone from his mind, resurfaced with a vengeance. Naruto had Minato's face—minus the whisker marks—and Obito's earnest desire to prove himself. He was quick to anger but even quicker to forgive, and he wore his heart on his sleeve.

Truthfully, Kakashi hadn't held out much hope for Anko's 'grand plan.' He knew only too well how emotional wounds inflicted in childhood could fester in the soul for years afterwards. But Kakashi _hadn't_ held on to his anger at his father; he had learned to accept and honor his father's belief that there was nothing more important than protecting one's teammates.

And it had been Obito who taught Kakashi that lesson.

There was no guarantee that history would repeat itself, of course. Naruto wasn't Obito, no matter what similarities they might share. But in the course of five minutes, Kakashi had seen Sasuke interact more naturally with someone than he had since the massacre. Granted, he had been about to unleash a deadly jutsu on Naruto before Kakashi's ninken intervened… but then, he was only seven. He had a lot to learn.

Maybe, just maybe, Naruto could be the one to teach him?

As these thoughts were running through Kakashi's brain, he was seized also by the memory of what Anko had said to him earlier: "_What would the Fourth say, if he could see you now? Aren't you ashamed?_"

Of course Kakashi was ashamed. Who wouldn't be, after seeing how pathetically glad Naruto was at the prospect of a friend, even one who treated him like dirt. No child should have to live the way Naruto had, and the fact that he was Minato-sensei's son made it so much worse.

Kakashi didn't know if the Hokage would give Anko his permission to look after Naruto. What he'd told Anko about the Council still held true; they would throw one hell of a fit before letting the jinchuuriki within a whisker of Sasuke. But Kakashi was starting to think that letting them throw that fit might be the best thing he could do: for Sasuke, for Naruto, and for his own conscience.

At the very least, he could get to know the brat a little better.

Kakashi waited until Sasuke had disappeared into the house. Naruto remained in the yard, getting to know the ninken. Kakashi waited and watched, chuckling as the energetic child started a rough-and-tumble scuffle against all six of the ninja hounds. He dodged and whirled as the dogs tried to pin him to the ground again, and the whole time he wore the biggest smile Kakashi had ever seen on anyone's face. It sent a pang through his heart.

Without consciously choosing to, Kakashi jumped down from his perch on the roof to land in the yard. At the same moment, Naruto executed an ill-advised charge towards Bull, who batted him away with a single swipe of his paw.

Kakashi leaped to catch him, letting out a surprised _oof_ as the boy landed in his arms. He put Naruto down gently, suppressing a chuckle as the boy whirled around in surprise.

"Uh, thanks! For catching me, I mean…" Naruto rubbed the back of his neck with an embarrassed cough.

"Don't mention it. Bull hits hard, but he's slow. Next time, feint and try for a follow-up attack. Or just wait until the lazybones falls asleep."

Bull growled deep in his throat while Naruto laughed.

"So you're Naruto, eh?" Kakashi continued. "I'm Kakashi, and it seems you've already met these mangy mutts. Anko and I look after Sasuke. You could say we're his guardians."

"So you're a shinobi too?" Naruto confirmed, looking from Kakashi to the ninken and back.

"Yup. And you're the boy Anko brought back to be Sasuke's new friend."

Like Anko, Kakashi wanted to avoid the term "brother." It was far too loaded with traumatic associations in Sasuke's mind right now.

Naruto looked down with a scowl. "Yeah… but I don't think he likes me much."

Kakashi's smile was, as always, hidden by his mask. "It's not you. Sasuke doesn't like anyone much."

Naruto scratched his head and met Kakashi's gaze. "Why not?" he asked blankly. "I always want to like people…" he trailed off, and Kakashi could read years of isolation and loneliness in those blue eyes.

Sometimes in the middle of a battle, Kakashi would get a gut feeling that told him what to do. Change direction suddenly; throw a kunai in _that_ direction instead of this—many times those intuitions had saved his life, and those of his teammates.

Kakashi was getting one of those gut feelings now. It wasn't necessarily a smart idea, because it might backfire in the future. It would _certainly_ make Sasuke angry, if he were ever to find out. But Kakashi decided to trust his instinct—his instinct, and also a young boy who had lived in a sea of sorrow and come out smiling.

"Can I tell you a secret, Naruto?" asked Kakashi, leaning closer. "Something you can't ever tell another soul?"

Naruto nodded like a bobblehead doll. "Sure! I can keep a secret real good, you can trust me!"

_Here goes nothing,_ Kakashi thought, mentally rolling up his sleeves. If he was going to go along with Anko's hair-brained scheme, he'd better do his best to make it work. Now was the time for a little emotional manipulation… all for a good cause, of course.

"Very well, then. The secret I'm about to tell you concerns Sasuke's family. You see, Sasuke is the youngest son of the head of the Uchiha clan, once one of the most powerful and respected clans in Konoha…"

Kakashi went on, explaining about Sasuke's family and the massacre. He didn't hold anything back, unfolding the details of the massacre down to the numbers of the slain.

"…and the person who killed the Uchiha was none other than Uchiha Itachi," Kakashi finished, watching Naruto carefully to gauge his reaction. "Sasuke's older brother."

Naruto was white as a sheet, his eyes wide and trembling. "His… brother? His brother really did all that? He k-killed… everyone?"

Kakashi nodded solemnly. "No one knows why. But Sasuke saw his brother murder his parents right before his eyes. You can see now, maybe, why he thinks friends aren't important. To Sasuke, everyone he cares about either died… or betrayed him."

Tears began rolling down Naruto's face, and he made no effort to stop them. He cried without making a sound, save for the occasional heaving breath.

Kakashi hoped he hadn't given Naruto _too_ much of a shock, though his strategy did rely on Naruto being shaken to his core by the truth about Sasuke's family. The blond boy was easy to read, and Kakashi could practically see the gears turning in his head as he came to grips with what he'd been told.

For an unloved orphan like Naruto, family was undoubtedly the most precious thing in the world. He had probably longed for one his entire life, building it up in his mind to an unattainable ideal. The idea that someone could willingly, ruthlessly murder his own family had to be among the worst things Naruto could imagine. If there was anything to make Naruto feel sympathy for Sasuke, to want to stay close to him and protect him, it was the truth about Itachi.

Part of Kakashi was telling him that the road to hell was paved with good intentions, and that his cold-blooded manipulation of Naruto's kind heart made him a monster. But another part of Kakashi hoped that with a little nudging, Naruto might become the Obito to Sasuke's Kakashi.

_And this time, neither will have to die before they realize that friendship,_ Kakashi vowed silently.

Such an outcome would make up for a bit of meddling… wouldn't it?

"So try to understand Sasuke," Kakashi said out loud. "He won't open up to anyone for a long time. But that doesn't mean we can't be there for him. And you want to be there for him, right Naruto?"

Naruto nodded seriously, wiping his tear-stained cheeks with a grubby hand.

"Then how about you become one of Sasuke's bodyguards? Maybe bodyguard-in-training, until Anko and I get you whipped into shape. After all, Sasuke will be a target for the rest of his life, and another teammate never hurts. How about it?"

"You really mean it?" Naruto asked, a quaver in his voice.

"I can't promise you'll be able to stay with us," Kakashi said honestly. "Only the Hokage can give permission for that. But until the Hokage says otherwise, you can consider yourself on my squad. I'll protect you to the best of my ability, and teach you what I can. As long as you're on my team, I'll never abandon you."

Tears of gratitude formed in the corners of Naruto's eyes, but he stubbornly refused to let them fall. He held out his little hand, which Kakashi shook with equal solemnity.

Then Shiba ruined the moment by sneaking up behind Naruto and not-so-gently biting the boy's rear end. Naruto jumped a foot in the air and whirled around as the gleefully unrepentant ninken circled for another attack. Naruto charged, while the other five ninken came to Shiba's aid.

Kakashi had to laugh as he watched his sensei's son frolic in the yard with the pack.

_Is it well, sensei? Watch over us. I'll keep Sasuke safe, and turn Naruto into a Hokage anyone would proud of. A Hokage like you._

oOoOo

Anko had been to the Hokage's Tower many times, so she knew the drill. When she reached the Hokage's study and found the door closed, guarded by a pair of chuunin, she sat down on the bench and settled in to wait.

She could hear an angry voice coming from inside, but the thick wood of the front door muffled the words. Anko grew bored in under a minute, so she decided to amuse herself.

She caught the eye of one of the chuunin guards and winked at him. He was too well-trained to react overtly, but Anko thought he twitched a bit. She smirked, wondering what it would take to scare him out of his rigid stance.

_He's kind of cute,_ Anko mused, shamelessly looking him up and down. _Looks a bit fragile, though. Wouldn't want to break him._

The chuunin was beginning to redden slightly when the door to the Hokage's study opened. Hyuuga Hiashi strode out, making no effort to control the irritation on his face.

He saw Anko waiting and strode past her, not acknowledging her with so much as a cursory nod. Anko glared at his retreating back, wishing his byakugan was activated so he could see her making a rude gesture in his direction.

Hiashi was one of the clan heads who had been in favor of demoting Anko and putting her on indefinite probation after she had been abandoned by Orochimaru. It hadn't been the worst of the punishments suggested at that particular Council meeting, but neither had it been calculated to put the head of the Hyuuga clan in Anko's good graces.

Not that Hyuuga Hiashi likely cared about _anyone's_ good graces; he was a frosty cold bastard. Anko had only been on one mission with him, an A-rank retrieval mission on behalf of Kiri, which had asked for Konoha's help hunting down a few missing-nin on the run with classified information. Anko could still see the corpses of the missing-nin after a few hits from Hiashi's jyuuken. Having your brain explode was never pretty.

The Hokage's voice came from within the study, reminding Anko of the reason she had come to the Tower in the first place.

"Come in, Anko."

Anko did as ordered, wondering idly how the Hokage did that. He always seemed to know exactly who was waiting in line—and he often displayed preternatural awareness of things happening in the village and beyond its borders. It was enough to make Anko think he was a sensor nin, though nothing she had ever read about "the Professor" suggested he could identify personal chakra signatures at great distances.

As she walked past the guards at the door, Anko took the opportunity to pinch the chuunin guard she'd winked at earlier. That did it—he jumped like a frightened rabbit. His partner, a veteran who knew Anko well enough after meeting her in the Tower a few times, chuckled quietly.

Sarutobi Hiruzen sat at his desk, which was laden with paperwork and writing implements. He smiled when he saw Anko and gestured for her to stand at ease.

"It's good to see you, Anko. My guards have had it too easy without you to keep them on their toes."

Anko ducked her head with false modesty. "Just doing my humble best for the village, Hokage-sama. So what's got Hiashi's knickers in a twist? Did the Inuzuka's hounds shit in his clan's compound again?"

The Hokage sighed and steepled his fingers together. "Hyuuga Hiashi is not a patient man."

He did not elaborate, and his expression told Anko not to pursue the subject further.

"I'm guessing you know why I'm here," Anko said bluntly. "Since you stick your nose into everybody's business."

It was hard to read the Hokage's eyes—any number of emotions could have been hiding in their depths. "I do."

"Will you give your permission?"

"It's not just my permission you need," the Hokage replied, with a certain amount of chagrin. "I can authorize you to take in Naruto, but the Council will protest. Do you have the confidence to convince them otherwise?"

Anko nodded without so much as a moment's hesitation. "If you let me, sir. I know this is the right thing to do. But will Kakashi fight me on this? He didn't approve of the idea."

A strange gleam came into the Hokage's eyes, and Anko wondered what he knew that she didn't.

"Be patient with Kakashi," he told her after a pause. "He was close to three people in his early life. One killed himself. Another died saving Kakashi. And the third… Kakashi killed her with his own hand. Can you blame him if he's reluctant to allow new people into his heart?"

"He doesn't need to let anyone into his heart," Anko scowled, a little uneasy with all this touchy-feely talk. Had all that really happened to Kakashi? She thought _she_ was the one who had the screwed-up past! "Just to let Naruto into the house."

"When it comes to Naruto, one often leads to the other." Anko could have sworn the Hokage's eyes twinkled. Was that possible without a genjutsu?

She smiled ruefully. "True. The little brat really grows on you, doesn't he?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen shared her smile, though his was tinged with a deep sadness. "Yes… he does. I will support your decision and offer what aid I can. But in the end, it is the Council we must convince. They will certainly try to reverse my decision. Are you prepared for that?"

Anko bared her teeth. "Honestly, Hokage-sama? I'd like to see them try."

"Then you have my blessing… I only hope you know what you're getting yourself into."

_They're just two brats,_ Anko thought as she bowed to the Hokage and took her leave. _How much trouble could they possibly be?_


End file.
